Director Park Li-won, who has won a new victory since his triple victory at the Busan International Film Festival, is aiming to a much larger canvas in Gildong, an epic about the leader of the rebels who use South Korea’s first hangar novel to unite people into a monarchy.
The project has been pitched in the Asian project market this year, with its intimate drama The Land of Morning Calm representing a significant scale-up of the park that swept Biff 2024 with the New Currents Award, KB New Currents Audiens Award and NetPac Award.
The “Gildong” set during Joseong period follows Hong Gildong, who leads Hawarbindan in the attack on Jochang, a storage facility that brings respect to Minh China. King Gwanga is thrown into crisis and summons Hui Kyung based on the remaining clues and questions him about Hong-gil-dong’s identity. Heo Gyun reveals that Hong is a survivor of those who were mistakenly persecuted during Gyechuk’s political persecution, and warns that Hong Gildong-Jeon’s book is rallying people, subverting the king and spreading the book of fragrance Gildong-Jeon to establish a new country called Yuldouguk. The Royal Court attempts to capture Hawarbindan, but instead falls into their trap, in what Honggildon intensifies the pressure on Gwanger, calling “the final pursuit between those who wield their strength for profit and revolutionaries who cry out for justice.”
“From the start, I asked, what if we could just turn the “fake news” back to the administration? “The park conveys diversity. “If the book’s spread contributes to the downfall of the dynasty, even if it’s fiction? Though it’s full of lies, the story becomes a spark of truth.”
The director sees the project as a natural evolution from previous works, which has consistently combined genre elements with realism. “To my heart, this is the story of people without the masters of society who worked like slavery,” he explains. “The fear of the power of the Joseon Dynasty is repeated in our times.”
The park is particularly attracted to the unique linguistic disparity in which the public uses Hangul while the rulers use traditional kanji. “Hong Gildong-Jeon was the first Hangul novel intended for people to read,” he says. “In many ways, it was an early superhero story, and its extraordinary figure made the kings and elites laugh.”
Rather than modernizing the time period setting, the park aims for historical authenticity. “I don’t want to modernize the setting. For me, its fidelity is the most “modern” option,” he says. Quoting “Zero Dark 30” and “Bloody Sunday,” it is a model that brings the strictness of documentary style to historical material.
The character’s name “Gilddong” combines two names: Seogil, son of Acubine-born Aristocrat, and Gaeddong, a slave. In Joseon society, both faced systematic oppression. Soja’s rank was banned from government status, but slaves, who make up to 60% of the population, were bound by life along with their children.
Producer Ahn Byungrae has worked with Park on two previous low-budget features, but is confident in scaling up. “What I feel while producing the producer Park Li-Wong film is that his story has enough commercial appeal, rooted in his artistic vision,” Anne says.
However, ambitious scope poses practical challenges. “There is no longer a natural environment in Korea that is suitable for filming large-scale historic combat,” explains Anne. “Therefore, we are looking for a place overseas with a similar environment where we can shoot while saving money.”
The producers target both regional and international investments, scouting locations and planning to find production partners specialized for period action. Given the innovative themes of the story and the foundations in shared Asian history, AHN is involved in distributors and streaming platforms across the region.
“I want to make the film “Gladiator” or “Mad Max,” declares Anne, pointing out the right timing amid growing global interest in Korean classical tales.
For Park, whose previous work, “The Bulldozer Girl,” also deals with resistance themes, the project represents both continuity and expansion. “This perception opened up better opportunities for my work,” he talks about his Biff success, emphasizing that “Gildong” focuses on “the story of ordinary people.”
The director believes that the film’s quest for how fictional stories stimulate real change resonates universally. “I hope that storytelling and collective emotional intertwining resonate universally,” he says, comparing Shakespeare’s approach to love, which allows audiences to experience the dramatic process of artistic creation.
